[mary_spc]

My baby is 5 weeks old & waking every 3 hours for a feed (breastfeed).

Any tips to start encouraging him to sleep longer thru the night??

Apreciate any advice.

[Graham]

My baby is 3 months old now and still also wakes up every 2.5 to 3 hours on average to breastfeed.

Luckily, he doesn't need a long breastfeed anymore, probably only about 5 to 10 minutes before he falls back to sleep.

I'd also love to hear some tips on how to get them to sleep longer.

Graham
(starting to get sleep deprivation.....Zzzzzzzzz)

[mary_spc]

Thanks for your reply Graham.

I heard from some lucky parents that their 4-6 weeks old baby were starting to sleep 5-6 hours thru the night by giving them a (slightly) bigger formula feed just before bedtime. Since our baby was being fed breastmilk exclusively, we weren't keen on this option.

[Slee]

I'm afraid sleeping through the night will be hard for a while and the only thing I can suggest is offering lots of feeds during the day (every two hours was the advice I was given by Hulda of Annerley) and trying to keep your baby alert if they fall asleep from all the lovely oxalate in your milk. If you don't have one already, a Moses basket or a cradle right by your bed will make it much easier for you to stay half asleep and get back to sleep quicker.

Whatever you do, do your best to keep breastfeeding as the immunity your little one will get is so powerful. Trust me, you will get even less sleep if your baby catches a cold or tummy bug. I breastfed for over a year out of fear of my daughter catching even more bugs!

[loraine]

I breastfed exclusively for 16 weeks and yes my little one woke alot for night feeds. It can be tiring but for some babies that's just the way it is. You could try to make-up on your own sleep in the day time if possible (but I know that doesn't help Dad!). I used to breastfeed in a different room to minimise the disturbance for my husband. From my own expereince, don't be tempted to let your baby sleep & feed on the breast in bed, in the short-term you feel like you're getting more sleep, but in the long-term it can lead to a baby that won't settle down unless they're nestled on the breast.

[jools]

Hi,
Firstly congratualtions on the birth of your child. All babies are different and the lack of sleep is just part of the joy they bring. My first child used to wake every 2 to 3 hours for a feed for months. I just accepeted it as part of being a mother and used to get as much sleep during the day as I could, when he slept.
My second child who is now thirteen weeks, only wakes up once in the night. I don't think I have done anything differently with the two of them, they are just different.
All of the advice I have read so far in answer to your question I would reiterate. My daughter drinks alot just before she goes to sleep in the evening, taking several feeds within the space of two hours and this seems to tide her over.
I remember a friend of mine once saying she was looking forward to the night feeds with her second child because this was a time that was just theirs which made it very special; she was disappointed though because her daughter slept through after 3 weeks.
There will always be people out there who's baby is sleeping longer than yours at night. Focus on your baby and tried to enjoy them no matter what the time of day and most importantly make sure you look after yourself.

Jools

[jane01]

Good on you for continuing b/feeding. As you obviously already know, it is by far the best thing you could be feeding your baby. However, it doesn't mean that it is great for your own well being sleep-wise. Every 3 hours'ish sounds about right for a 5 week old. It is all a bit of a blur for me now, but from memory I don't think my daughter slept longer until about 3 months, although I did get the occassional 5 hour break.

If you are really finding it difficult, perhaps you could express some milk before going to bed and have daddy feed for at least the first wake up? I have to admit this never worked for me because 1) I was hopeless at expressing, 2) my daughter would never take a bottle and 3) if she was awake, I couldn't sleep anyway, so I figured I may as well get up and feed her.

Although it doesn't feel like it today, babies are only so tiny for such a short period of time. You'll look back and be so glad you stuck with b/feeding.

Best of luck.

[rani]

Dhruv used to wake up every 3 hours too for a feed and every hour during a growthspurt. I used to b/f on demand so he was getting more than enough during the day. He only started sleeping for longer stretches after 5 months, when we introduced solids.

Sometimes I wonder if the breastfeeding helped build his immunity, cos he seems to fall sick quite often.